Directed, produced, edited and co-written by Leni Riefenstahl.

Adolf Hitler (mustache, left) with Leni Riefenstahl (wearing Hugo Boss, right.)

Triumph of the Will chronicles the 1934 Nazi Party Congress in Nuremberg, which was attended by more than 700,000 Nazi supporters. The film contains excerpts of speeches given by Nazi leaders at the Congress, including Hitler, Rudolf Hess and Julius Streicher, interspersed with footage of massed Sturmabteilung (SA) and Schutzstaffel (SS) troops and public reaction. Its overriding theme is the return of Germany as a great power with Hitler as its leader.

Following its release in March 1935, it became a major example of film used as propaganda and was well-received at home. Riefenstahl’s techniques—such as moving cameras, aerial photography, the use of long-focus lenses to create a distorted perspective, and the revolutionary approach to the use of music and cinematography—have earned Triumph of the Will recognition as one of the greatest propaganda films in history and has influenced filmmakers ever since, including the likes of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. (Note the homage paid to the classic film in Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark.) Riefenstahl, a former movie star in German “mountain climbing” movies, won several awards for Triumph of the Will in Germany, France and Italy.

Once shown regularly in film and cinema programs in universities world-wide, due to modern censorship the film is becoming harder and harder to find.